End to ski hosting in France

Insiders wrote:

andyhull wrote:The company that are in court are a small independent.

They're not 'small' they have dozens of chalets... a small, independant is one that only has 1, 2, or even 3. and is therefore more discreet because of its size

Compared to the other opponents they could have picked on such as Crystal (supported by the mighty TUI) they are.
As already mentioned the fact that many big players have waded in and offered support to Le Ski must have been a blow to the French authorities and the ESF.

Snapzzz wrote:

Insiders wrote:

andyhull wrote:The company that are in court are a small independent.

They're not 'small' they have dozens of chalets... a small, independant is one that only has 1, 2, or even 3. and is therefore more discreet because of its size

Compared to the other opponents they could have picked on such as Crystal (supported by the mighty TUI) they are.
As already mentioned the fact that many big players have waded in and offered support to Le Ski must have been a blow to the French authorities and the ESF.

Crystal etc are huge companies, by comparison that doesn't automatically make le ski small, just not as big - but that can still be large. Le Ski has 30ish operations, that cannot be considered small. With potential for millions of £'s turnover... not small by any means

Small, Independant companies are the ones with just a handfull... surely no more than 5 chalets. a smaller more discreet affair

Insiders wrote:

Snapzzz wrote:

Insiders wrote:

andyhull wrote:The company that are in court are a small independent.

They're not 'small' they have dozens of chalets... a small, independant is one that only has 1, 2, or even 3. and is therefore more discreet because of its size

Compared to the other opponents they could have picked on such as Crystal (supported by the mighty TUI) they are.
As already mentioned the fact that many big players have waded in and offered support to Le Ski must have been a blow to the French authorities and the ESF.

Crystal etc are huge companies, by comparison that doesn't automatically make le ski small, just not as big - but that can still be large. Le Ski has 30ish operations, that cannot be considered small. With potential for millions of £'s turnover... not small by any means

Small, Independant companies are the ones with just a handfull... surely no more than 5 chalets. a smaller more discreet affair

Still makes no difference, if they are found ski leading they will end up in the police station. Word will soon get out if a UK chalet is offering the service. Seasonaires skiing with a difference group of guests each week won't go un-noticed.

It's the fact that people are being paid to take guests round the mountains that is causing the problems, volunteering is not illegal...

If the french can proove you are being paid to take guests around they have a case, if you can proove you are not being employed/paid specifically to ski host, and you do not have a hosting clause in your contract - it's volunteering...

Like most legal systems, I am guessing the powers that be will lock people up without justifying their position and then it will be up to the ski companies to fight it through the courts to prove the local authorities wrong.

Could take years to sort out a legal precedent.

Either way it will cause disruption and will put some off offering ski hosting.

some... not all... and it shouldn't put people off going to France, you'll just have to look harder to get a ski host who volunteers, as i say... my mates do it no problems

Insiders wrote:It's the fact that people are being paid to take guests round the mountains that is causing the problems, volunteering is not illegal...

If the french can proove you are being paid to take guests around they have a case, if you can proove you are not being employed/paid specifically to ski host, and you do not have a hosting clause in your contract - it's volunteering...

You'd need to prove you weren't being paid to ski host, regardless of what's in your contract, that would be very difficult.

The being paid or not discussion seems a bit hypothetical.
Wouldn't want to be the chalet washer upper on £30 a week spending a night or two in jail while someone found a "contract" to see if he/she was paid for skiing in any way......
And then the wait and wait and wait while some lawyers argued over the translation of "associated services as required for the running of the chalet" and whether "associated services" included skiing with guests or not.
Put a real damper on some poor kids ski season that would.